» How My Credit Cards Paid For Most of My Vacation

With the current down swing of the economy, many people are feeling the pinch and having to cut back on many non-essentials.

My family almost cut out our family vacation, until I realized credit card rewards program could pretty much foot the bill for the majority of vacation expenses!

Read these tips on how to save money on your next vacation by using your credit card rewards program to help pay the costs:

Sign up for a credit card that’s offering a free companion airfare to all new account holders. This basically gives you a buy-one, get-one on your flight tickets, allowing you and your partner to travel for the price of one.

Stay two to four nights for free in a hotel, by using a credit card with a hotel rewards program. You may have to use this card for several months to build up enough rewards (remember to pay your balance in full each month to avoid interest and finance fees!) or you may be able to obtain one of the many credit cards that gives you two or more nights for free after making your first credit card purchase (of any dollar amount).

Use the car rental rewards, as well as car rental insurance coverage offered from the majority of credit cards. Check your credit cards, most of the travel rewards cards offer free or discounted car rental. When you use the card to book your car rental or other aspects of your trip, you’ll also probably be entitled to car rental insurance, which means you don’t have to pay for it through the car rental company.

Don’t forget to take advantage of dining and restaurant discounts and rewards. Another common reward offered by credit cards includes the ability to receive discounted meals in certain restaurants. In addition to these rewards, you can save on your food bill while on vacation if you stay at hotels that offer free continental breakfast!

Emergency roadside assistance coverage saves you if you break down! If your idea of a great vacation is one in which you hit the open road and drive whichever way the wind takes you; you’ll want to have a credit card that includes emergency roadside assistance. If you break down, you’re covered. They’ll come fix your car at the location, or tow you to the closest service station to make repairs. Depending on the card, you may also receive a night or two free hotel stay while your car is worked on; making this common credit card “extra” benefit invaluable for road trip travelers.

Using credit card rewards and incentives to make a vacation affordable is a good strategy that many people have learned to use. It’s extremely important, however, that you don’t run out and apply to every rewards credit card you see in order to increase the reward’s options you have available to you. Instead, check the credit cards you already own to see what rewards and incentives you may already be entitled to (and perhaps even unaware of!); and decide what sort of trip you’d like to take before applying for a rewards credit card.

Vacation destinations such as disneyland often give special discount offers that can add up to big savings.

With a little research and careful planning, you can take full advantage of rewards programs and credit card offers to take an affordable vacation.

Take advantage of all the discount offers, package vacation deals and reward points programs you can when going on vacation and travel happily, knowing that you’re saving money every time you take out your wallet.

Debbie Dragon is a writer for Creditorweb.com, where she writes about credit card offers, rewards programs, and personal finance topics.